Back-to-school shopping this year started early, then ran late

The first day of school brings excitement for students outfitted with new clothes, new shoes and wearing backpacks stuffed with supplies.But this year, the bursts of exuberance came after months of back-to-school shopping, a retail organization says.

An increased number of shoppers were already checking off their lists as summer arrived, according to the National Retail Federation.

It reported 26% of back-to-school shoppers were active by June, up from 22% a year earlier. That jumped to 67% by early July, up from 55% last year and the highest since NRF started tracking early shopping in 2018.

"We started back to school shopping in July because certain stores only put out a set amount. When it is gone, it's gone until next year," said Kait DeGrazia, a Cherry Hill mother of two young stud